


50 Tales of the Heart

by ApfelSeine



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-05
Updated: 2014-03-19
Packaged: 2017-12-28 11:18:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/991405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApfelSeine/pseuds/ApfelSeine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story is a collection of drabbles written for a 50 theme writing challenge. The primary relationship in this is Flynn and Yuri, and ranges from friendship to a full fledged romance depending on the story. It is comprised of 40 different themes and chapters that vary in length. There is no continuity within this story, and some entries may contradict each other as a result.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Kiss

001\. First kiss

Flynn sat beside one of the canals that ran through the streets in the Lower Quarter, his little legs dangling over the side. He was barefoot and his pants had been rolled up to his knees, which were scraped up after a day of roughhousing with Yuri. Really, the blond boy didn’t mind that Yuri often got a little rough when play fighting with him. Yuri was usually the one to end up with more injuries anyways. Even though Flynn always won, Yuri seemed to just get more and more determined to beat him in a fight.

Currently, the black haired boy was busy sulking because of the outcome of their last fight. At the end of one of their fights, Flynn would ask him “are you alright Yuri?”, which always seemed to bother Yuri for some reason. Even so, Flynn found that he instinctively asked the question whenever he saw that Yuri was hurt. After this particular fight, Yuri had stormed off with the declaration that he was never going to speak to Flynn again. Flynn wasn’t worried though. Yuri had threatened the same thing before, but in the end he always came back as if nothing had ever happened.

Hearing footsteps from behind him, Flynn glanced over his shoulder to see Yuri running up to him, looking excited. Yuri stopped beside Flynn and sat down beside him, grinning from ear to ear. It was unusual for Yuri to get over a loss so easily, so Flynn couldn’t help but wonder what it was that had happened to put Yuri in such a good mood.

“Hey Flynn! I found out how to be adults!”

Flynn looked blankly at Yuri for a moment. He didn’t have the faintest idea what Yuri was talking about. Then he remembered telling Yuri that they wouldn’t be able to join the knights until they were adults, so he wanted to become an adult quickly. Apparently, Yuri had taken it upon himself to find out how they could do this.

“Really? How did you find out?” Flynn asked.

“Well, I was taking a walk around near the inn when I saw two people give each other a kiss like they do in that book of fairy tales that you have,” Yuri explained as he kicked off his shoes and dipped his feet into the water alongside Flynn’s. “I asked the lady at the inn why they were doing that, and she told me ‘it’s because they’re adults’. So if we kiss, then that’ll make us adults too.”

Yuri was watching Flynn intently, clearly expecting him to be just as excited about it as he was. Flynn didn’t think that kissing would turn them into adults, but he didn’t want to disappoint Yuri by saying so.

“Maybe, but you’re only supposed to kiss the person you love,” Flynn pointed out.

“Oh? But that shouldn’t be a problem, right?” Yuri asked, smiling innocently at Flynn.

“Um... I guess not,” Flynn replied, returning the smile. “I suppose it’d be ok.”

Yuri grinned broadly, his gray eyes lighting up and shining happily as he scooted a little closer to Flynn. This was the only warning Flynn had before he felt Yuri’s lips against his own. Yuri’s lips felt soft, and Flynn felt as if his heart was about to leap out of his chest it was pounding so hard. As suddenly as it happened, it was over. Yuri licked his lips thoughtfully, his brows furrowing slightly in concentration.

“Are we adults? I don’t really feel any different,” he remarked. Yuri turned and looked curiously at Flynn. “Hey, are you ok? Your face is all red.”

“I... think it’s fine if things stay the way they are a little longer...” Flynn said quietly, turning his face away to hide the blush that had crept onto his cheeks.


	2. Final

002\. Final

Flynn loved to watch Yuri fight. He rarely got many chances to watch him properly though. When he wasn’t fighting against Yuri, he was fighting by his side and was too busy concentrating on their opponents to really watch what Yuri was doing. On the rare chance that he got an opportunity to watch Yuri fight, Flynn was always awestruck by how swift Yuri’s movements were. Physically, everything about Yuri seemed perfect. His lean body and his smooth movements made him look just like some kind of dangerous predator. Just watching him in action was enough to send chills down Flynn’s spine.

To most onlookers, every strike that Yuri made upon his enemies might seem wild and reckless, having no rhyme or reason to them at all. This was not entirely the case. Flynn knew from firsthand experience that Yuri fought on pure instinct, but with a deadly precision that came from years of experience with a sword. Yuri’s fighting style was so much different than Flynn’s, and yet they worked so perfectly together when they fought side by side. It was hard to determine why exactly this was, but Flynn decided that it was only natural that they work well together after knowing each other for so long. But even though he knew Yuri better than anyone else, there were still many things that he had yet to learn about Yuri and his fighting style. Every time Flynn thought that he had figured Yuri out, Yuri would do something that would completely astound him.

This was what Flynn considered as he watched Yuri cut down enemy after enemy inside the Coliseum. He watched as Yuri felled thirty, fifty, then eighty enemies, one right after the other. Flynn gripped his sword tightly in anticipation. Soon, he would be the one entering the ring. In their last battle, Yuri had finally triumphed over Flynn. It had been a while since then, but he could tell that Yuri had improved even more. Even after fighting so many enemies, Yuri was still going strong. He was practically dancing around the ring, darting from enemy to enemy and nimbly dodging their attacks. It was amazing that Yuri didn’t seem to be slowing down at all, even after enduring such a grueling fight.

Flynn could only hope that Yuri was more tired than he looked. As things stood, Flynn had the definite advantage. Unlike their last battle, Yuri would be fighting with more opponents than just him. It almost didn’t seem fair, but as he watched Yuri fight, he realized that this handicap would not be enough to tilt the scales too far to Flynn’s advantage. Yuri wasn’t becoming fatigued at all. In fact, the harder the battle got, the more Yuri seemed to enjoy himself and the more energy he seemed to have. It was obvious, at least to Flynn, how much Yuri loved the thrill of battle.

Before he knew it, it was his turn to enter the fight. Taking a deep breath, Flynn calmly strutted out into the ring alongside several monsters. Yuri glanced in his direction, his eyes widening slightly. Flynn drew his sword and charged towards Yuri, who quickly darted away. Flynn moved to attack again, but Yuri dodged once more. It didn’t take long for Flynn to realize that Yuri was avoiding him. He frowned, not understanding why Yuri was running away from him. Normally, Yuri would just charge into battle head on. Flynn had absolutely no idea what Yuri was doing.

After a few minutes of this, just as Flynn was beginning to get frustrated, every monster in the ring had been defeated and the only ones left were Flynn and Yuri. Yuri spun around the face Flynn, a broad grin spreading across his face. Flynn chuckled and raised his sword to block Yuri’s first attack.

“Are you finally going to fight me seriously?” Flynn asked, swinging his sword at Yuri, who quickly parried the attack.

“I was saving the best for last,” Yuri replied, slowly beginning to circle around Flynn.

Yuri swung his sword at Flynn again and Flynn quickly blocked him and responded with a quick flurry of attacks that pushed Yuri back. Flynn could see the determination flash in Yuri’s eyes as he fought back with all his might. The longer they fought, the more Yuri’s movements seemed to slow down. Flynn used this to his advantage and put all his effort into an attack that was certain to knock Yuri down.

Flynn raised his sword and swung it with an intense amount of force in Yuri’s direction, uttering a loud battle cry as he did so. Such an attack had easily struck down many opponents, but this time Flynn felt his blade slash through thin air and strike against the ground. It was almost as if Yuri had disappeared, leaving Flynn completely dumbstruck. Yuri hadn't been getting tired after all. It was just a feint to lure Flynn to attack. He suddenly became aware of Yuri’s presence behind him, but it was too late for him to turn around and block Yuri’s attack. With a flash of steel, Yuri landed the final blow.

Looking up from where he was laying on the ground, Flynn saw Yuri looking down at him. Yuri was panting heavily, but even though he looked exhausted, Yuri was still grinning. Turning away from Flynn to face the crowd, Yuri trust his sword into the air triumphantly, earning him a loud cheer from the crowd that had come to watch him. Flynn smiled as he listened to the enthusiastic cheers. There was something almost beautiful about the way Yuri looked just after a successful battle, disheveled but with a satisfied air about him; as if he knew all along that he would emerge victorious.

“You’ve really improved,” Flynn said, letting out a tired sigh. “I guess that I’m no match for you anymore.”

“What are you saying Flynn?” Yuri asked, shaking his head and reaching out to offer his hand to help Flynn up. “We’re equals.”

Flynn took Yuri’s hand and was pulled up to his feet to stand beside Yuri. He felt a little lightheaded as Yuri led him out of the ring. There was something about the term “equal” that was reassuring to Flynn. No matter how far either of them climbed, in the end they would always be equal to each other. Nothing would ever change that fact.


	3. Numb

003\. Numb

Flynn stood on the bow of the ship, scanning the horizon. The ocean stretched out for miles in all directions. The surface of the ocean was calm and the weather was beautiful. Under normal circumstances Flynn would have been able to enjoy this, but he didn’t have time to do so. This wasn’t a trip where he could relax and enjoy the scenery around him. He was too busy searching.

It was beginning to seem that no matter how much he looked, Flynn would not able to find what he was searching for. But he was not going to give up. If he gave up, he would have to accept that Yuri was gone forever. Yuri was out there somewhere. He just had to be.

Flynn had been searching for almost a week without success, but surely this time he would find something. Flynn was certain that Yuri was out there somewhere, but the longer it took to find him, the more Flynn began to lose hope. Even if he had survived the fall from Zaude, could Yuri really keep swimming for days on end? Eventually, even Yuri wouldn’t be able to survive -- assuming that he had survived the fall in the first place.

Everyone kept telling Flynn to give up. Such a search was hopeless, even if Yuri was still out there. The ocean was huge, and they had already searched every inch of the ocean within several miles of Zaude with no success. Besides, there was a lot of work that Flynn had to take care of as the acting Commandant. The council did not approve of his taking out ships to search for his friend. No matter what people said though, Flynn couldn’t just leave Yuri out there if there was a chance that he was still alive. If he gave up, he would always have to live with wondering whether spending one more day searching might have saved his friend’s life.

“Sir Flynn!”

Flynn startled out of his thoughts upon hearing one of his knights speak to him. He turned to see Sodia saluting him. Even though she was standing at perfect attention, as was customary when addressing a superior officer, Flynn could detect signs of concern in her features. He knew that she didn’t want to be out searching, but she insisted on coming with Flynn every now and then to help out. No matter how often Flynn insisted that she didn’t need to help -- since Flynn’s reasons for searching were largely personal -- Sodia always responded that she wanted to help in some way.

“What is it Sodia?” Flynn asked.

“It’s getting dark sir.”

Flynn looked up at the sky, realizing for the first time that the sun had begun to dip below the horizon. Even if he wanted to, Flynn knew that it was pointless to search in the dark. He nodded solemnly, his mouth set in a firm line and his brows knitted in frustration.

“Alright,” Flynn said. “Order the crew to turn around and return to Zaphias.”

Sodia nodded and hurried off. Flynn sighed and turned back to survey the surface of the ocean one last time. Once again, he had failed to find any sign of Yuri. Perhaps they were right in saying that his search for Yuri was futile. Flynn had looked everywhere, but there was still no trace of him. Even so, Flynn still would still keep searching for as long as he could. He simply couldn’t bear not knowing if Yuri was alright or not.

It was the uncertainty that was driving Flynn crazy. If he knew that Yuri was alive somewhere, he could feel relieved. Even if he found out that Yuri had died -- something he stubbornly refused to consider -- he would at least have some sort of closure. As it was, Flynn was trapped in a state of not knowing. It was like he had been swallowed up by a void that left him feeling completely numb.

If only Flynn could know where Yuri was. If Yuri was found alive, Flynn would be able to relax. Or, if Yuri was dead, he would be able to grieve the loss of his closest friend. But he didn’t know which of those things Yuri was, and so Flynn could feel neither of those things. He could only feel an unrelenting nothingness that threatened to consume him completely.

He tried to remember what it was like to feel emotions. He wished that he could remember what it was like to feel happiness, anger, sadness... anything at all really. Things like emotions seemed so surreal to him in his current state and everything about the world seemed muted. Grayish. It would have been hard to bear, but the only thing Flynn could feel was exhaustion.

Despite that, Flynn could remember what feelings were like a little better when he thought about the memories that he shared with Yuri. Frustration when Yuri did something reckless, pride when Yuri helped to save the day, and that weird, butterfly feeling that he got whenever Yuri smiled. Not his usual smirk, but a real, genuine smile that warmed Flynn’s heart whenever he saw it.

Thinking about Yuri helped a little, and Flynn didn’t feel quite as lonely as before. Yet he knew that memories were not nearly as good as the real thing. Even as Flynn thought about them, they seemed to slowly fade and become just as surreal as everything else. Flynn hated to think about what things would be like if Yuri was gone for good. Losing Yuri would be like losing a part of himself. Flynn was a dedicated knight, and that was all that he had ever aspired to be. But without Yuri, he felt that he couldn’t be anything besides that. He couldn’t just be Flynn, the boy from the Lower Quarter who tried his best to do the right thing and dreamed about make the world a better place. Even if he managed to fix all the problems with the Empire and make a better world for everyone to live in, it didn’t mean as much without Yuri by his side.

Things couldn’t end this way. They simply couldn’t. There was still so much that he had to tell Yuri. There were still so many things that he had left unsaid because he didn’t know how to voice them properly. If... When he found Yuri, he would say those thing to him. For now though, he could only hope.


	4. Broken Wings

004\. Broken wings

Yuri sat beneath a tree in the Lower Quarter, sulking. He was mad at Flynn for some reason, but he couldn’t remember why. Oh yeah, it was because Flynn had beaten him in a fight. Again. Yuri scowled upon remembering his latest defeat against Flynn. It seemed like Flynn could always beat him so easily no matter what it was they were doing. There had to be something that Yuri was better at. He was tired of Flynn always pitying him. Well, it wasn’t exactly pity, but that’s what it seemed like to Yuri.

“Yuri! Where are you?”

Yuri froze upon hearing Flynn’s voice. Flynn was the last person that he wanted to see right now. He was still in a foul mood, and he had even told Flynn to leave him alone. Of course, the blond boy never did. Flynn worried too much about him to ever do that. It was kinda annoying how much Flynn fussed over him. Yuri wasn’t some delicate little flower who needed to be protecting. It was irritating that Flynn didn’t seem to understand that. Flynn was always gallantly announcing that he would protect Yuri. That wasn’t what Yuri wanted though. He should be the one protecting Flynn, not the other way around.

Before Flynn could reach him, Yuri hurriedly scrambled up the tree and tried to climb up into the foliage. He wasn’t fast enough though, and Flynn caught sight of him. Flynn ran up to the base of the tree and called up to Yuri.

“Yuri! I’m sorry about earlier, ok? Are you still mad?”

“What do you think?!” Yuri snapped, glaring down at him.

Flynn had a crestfallen expression on his face upon hearing Yuri’s statement. Yuri hated it when he looked like that. It reminded him of a sad puppy. Yuri sighed and shook his head, climbing up even higher. If he kept looking at Flynn any longer, those puppy eyes were going to win him over like they always did, and Yuri didn’t want to forgive Flynn just yet.

“Yuri! Come down!”

Yuri glanced down to look at Flynn, realizing that the blond boy had decided to climb up after him. Gritting his teeth, Yuri climbed even higher, trying to reach the top before Flynn could catch up to him. Maybe if he got all the way to the top, Flynn would give up trying to follow him. He had never climbed this tree before, but it shouldn’t be much more difficult than any of the other trees Yuri had climbed.

“Y-Yuri! Wait up! That’s dangerous!”

Yuri smiled a little smugly when he realized that Flynn was struggling to climb up as high as him. He felt as if he was finally better at something than Flynn was for once in his life. Trying to climb even faster to try to show off, Yuri forgot to be careful and look out for dead branches, a fact that became evident when he reached for the next branch to pull himself up and it let out a single, terrifying crack.

Suddenly, everything seemed to drop out from beneath him and he was grabbing at air as he tumbled down towards the ground. He crashed into a few branches and tried to grab onto them to stop his descent, but he couldn’t get a good hold of any of them and all they did was slow him down a little and scrape him up in the process. When there was no more branches left for Yuri to crash into, he fell the remainder of the way down to the ground and landed heavily on his right arm and hearing something that sounded ominously like a ‘snap’. Yuri let out a sharp cry of pain and rolled onto his back, clutching his arm. There were tears welling up in his eyes and he tried his best to blink them away before anyone could see them.

“Yuri!” Flynn shrieked, scrambling back down to the bottom of the tree and rushing over to Yuri’s side. “Are you alright?”

Yuri let out a groan and looked up at Flynn, which he found difficult because his vision was getting a bit blurry. He reached up with his non-injured arm to wipe away the tears and clear his vision. He tried to smirk, but it twisted into a grimace of pain as he tried to move.

“Ha... Why do you always have to say that?” Yuri asked. “Of course I’m fi--”

Yuri was cut off as he tried to sit up and caused a sharp, shooting pain to go up his right arm. He let out a yelp and gave up trying to sit up. Flynn was bending over him, looking concerned. He always looked that way whenever Yuri hurt himself. Honestly, Flynn got way more worried than he really should get in Yuri’s opinion. It wasn’t as if Yuri was about to die or something just because he injured his arm. Sure it hurt, it hurt a lot, but he would be fine. It was too bad that Flynn never seemed to see things that way.

“I’m gonna go get help Yuri,” Flynn said, getting to his feet. “Don’t go anywhere, ok?”

Flynn ran off, presumably to go get someone to help. Yuri would have laughed at the fact that Flynn had told him not to go anywhere -- as if he could go anywhere in this state -- but he was in too much pain to really find anything all that humorous at the moment. He lay there on the ground for a while, wondering what was taking so long. Yuri wished that Flynn would hurry up and get back already.

After a few minutes, which to Yuri seemed like an hour, Flynn came running back with Hanks hurrying after him. Yuri smiled slightly, glad that Flynn was back. He would have said something to the blond, but Hanks had already picked him up and started to carry him somewhere. Yuri glanced up at Hanks, wincing in pain as his arm was jostled a little bit.

“Ow... Where are you taking me old man?” Yuri asked.

“We’re going to bring you to the inn and get you patched up,” Hanks responded. “According to Flynn, you had quite a nasty fall. What were you doing, climbing so high like that?”

“There’s no law against climbing trees,” Yuri grumbled.

Hanks merely sighed in response. Yuri glanced down to see Flynn trotting along beside them. Flynn was still looking at Yuri as if he were about to kick the bucket any second now, which Yuri would normally find annoying, but in his current state he found that it was a little nice to have someone so concerned about him. Hanks certainly didn’t seem to be concerned at all, what with the way he kept jostling him.

“Ow! Come on Hanks!” Yuri whined. “Can’t you be a little more gentle?”

“I’ll be more gentle when you learn to be more careful,” Hanks replied.

Yuri sighed and remained silent for the rest of the way back to The Comet. Once there, the lady who ran the inn quickly hurried to help patch Yuri up. Bandages and disinfectant were applied to wounds, and Yuri’s arm was wrapped up in a sling. He was informed that he had broken his arm, something which Yuri had suspected almost as soon as he had hit the ground, and was told not to use it until it healed.

After being given this warning, Flynn and Yuri were sent back outside and an awkward silence fell between them. Yuri looked down at his cast briefly before flashing Flynn a reassuring smile. The blond looked back at Yuri guiltily before looking down at his feet in shame. It was clear just from looking at him that Flynn blamed himself for what happened. As usual.

“I’m fine now Flynn,” Yuri said, sighing and sitting down heavily on the stairs. “Stop looking so down about it.”

“But Yuri! You broke your arm!” Flynn objected. “It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have chased after you...”

“How do you figure that?” Yuri asked, looking skeptical. “I don’t understand you. It’s not your fault at all, so how can you blame yourself for this?”

“If I didn’t chase you up the tree, you wouldn’t have fallen.”

Yuri sighed heavily and shook his head, placing his one good hand on his hip.

“Ok, for one thing, you didn’t ‘chase’ me up the tree. I was climbing it anyways,” Yuri said, which was only partly true but Yuri didn’t care. “And secondly, it’s not like you pushed me or something. I fell because one of the branches broke. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s the tree’s.”

Yuri knew that it was mostly his own fault that he had gotten himself hurt, but he wasn’t about to admit that though. At the same time, he didn’t want Flynn to spend the next few weeks moping because of this. Especially since Flynn hadn’t done anything bad.

Although Yuri’s skills at convincing could probably have used some work, Flynn looked up a little hopefully. The blond seemed to consider Yuri’s words for a moment before smiling shyly and moving to sit beside Yuri on the stairs.

“You really aren’t mad at me?” Flynn asked.

Yuri smirked and reached over with his left hand to ruffle Flynn’s hair.

“Of course not. Quit worrying so much.”

Flynn cast one more doubtful look at Yuri’s broken arm.

“It’s your right arm that’s broken though. Won’t it be hard to do things?”

Yuri hesitated for a moment before his gaze landed on a broom that was laying beside him. He smirked and picked it up with his good hand, spinning it around like he always did with his practice sword. It was moments like these that made Yuri glad that he was ambidextrous.

“I can use this hand just as well, see? Actually, I think I’m better with this one. I’ll probably use it more often.”

“Really?” Flynn asked, brightening up at the suggestion that it wasn’t such a bad thing that Yuri had broken his arm.

“Yeah, really. I’ll be fine with just this hand,” Yuri replied, making a mental note to start using his left hand more often so that Flynn wouldn't get suspicious. “Now come on. Let’s go exploring for a while. I’m bored.”

“Okay,” Flynn said, jumping to his feet. He grinned broadly and offered his hand to help Yuri up. For once, Yuri accepted it, smiling back. Yuri definitely preferred it when Flynn wasn’t feeling worried or guilty. If they would keep a smile on Flynn’s face, a few little white lies couldn’t hurt.


	5. Melody

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was considering using a song from the game for this chapter, but then I was rewatching Avatar and this happened. (If you've seen Avatar, this may seem a little familiar, but it you haven't then don't worry since the story is inspired by a filler episode anyways. The song might make more sense if you've heard it before though. If you haven't seen the Tales of Ba Sing Se, the song is "Leaves From the Vine".)

005. Melody

 

Yuri strolled through the town, carrying a basket on his arm. He smiled at the people who he passed, humming softly to himself as he went about his errands. He came to a little flower shop where he stopped for a moment to survey the display of colorful blossoms. Stooping down, he took a deep breath of the pleasing smell.

“Would you like to buy a carnation sir?”

Yuri looked up to see a teenaged girl with dark brown hair and big, innocent blue eyes. Chuckling a little, Yuri straightened up and shook his head.

“There’s no need to address me as ‘sir’. I might be getting on in years, but I’m not _that_ old,” Yuri said, a mirthful smirk playing across his features. “Anyways, I think I might buy a few flowers. Do you have any roses?”

After the girl made up a nice bouquet of red roses and pink carnations, Yuri paid her and carefully packet the flowers into his basket. He continued on his way, slowing down the next time he passed by a pleasant smelling shop. Curious, Yuri paused to check out the scented candles that were on display. The shopkeeper walked up to him, smiling the classic salesperson’s smile.

“Are you looking to buy some candles?”

Yuri paused thoughtfully as he considered this, then nodded.

“Yeah, a candle might be nice,” Yuri replied. “I just want a simple one though. My friend never really liked candles with strong scents.”

After buying a simple white candle and some matches, Yuri continued on his way. He made one final stop to purchase some stationary, then took a moment to write a short little letter. Folding up the letter, Yuri placed it into the basket and headed out of the town and into the surrounding field.

It was a short walk uphill before Yuri reached his destination, but the sun had already started to set, transforming the beautiful blue sky into a reddish orange. Yuri carefully placed his basket down and began unpacking the contents. Laying the flowers down on the ground he fussed with them until they looked the way he wanted them to. He then lit the candle he purchased and secured it to the little silver candle holder he had bought along with it. Once he had arranged everything, Yuri smiled and looked up from the little display he had made.

“Hey Flynn,” Yuri spoke softly. “Sorry I’m so late. You probably thought I forgot, but I’d never forget. I come every year don’t I?”

Yuri chuckled and leaned back to look up at the leaves in the tree above him.

“You know, every day I come here, I can’t help but remember that song your father used to sing,” Yuri continued. “How did it go again?...”

A soft breeze blew through the air, pushing Yuri’s hair away from his face as he closed his eyes and began to sing the song that was now forever etched into his memory.

 

_“Leaves from the vine_

_Falling so slow_

_Like little tiny shells_

_Drifting in the Foam_

__

_Little soldier boy_

_Come marching home._

**  
**

_Brave soldier boy…”_

 

Yuri gently placed the letter he had written on the smooth gray stone beneath the tree.

“Come marching home,” Yuri whispered the final line, opening his eyes to gaze upon the final resting place of the greatest man he had ever known. There were still many things Yuri had left to say to him, but Flynn would never be coming home.


	6. Rules

006. Rules

Yuri had never really been one to follow rules. When he was younger, he had always seen them as more of a suggestion than something he’d actually have to obey. This sentiment hadn’t changed much from when he was a kid.

Flynn, on the other hand, had come out of his rebellious childhood years with a strong respect for the law. Although he didn’t always agree with the laws, he would follow them and wait for his own opportunity to change them. The laws always had to be followed without any exceptions, and he was often butting heads with Yuri over this before the corrupt parts of the government had been fixed - courtesy of Flynn and Ioder.

Even though Flynn had managed to fix things to create a fair system, that didn’t mean that he and Yuri still didn’t argue about rules. As little reverence as Yuri held for the rules put in place by the government, he paid even less mind to rules established in more personal settings. Rules like “don’t distract Flynn while he is working” or “don’t use Estelle as a diversion to get out of being lectured” or, his all time favorite one to ignore, “use the door like a civilized person instead of climbing in through the window”.

Sure, every now and then he’d be good and respect the rules that Flynn came up with, but it was usually only when it suited him to do so. He knew that Flynn was getting a little exasperated with him, and as such he learned to become very aware of the times that he could get away with breaking Flynn’s rules, and the times that he couldn’t. This eased the tension a little bit and the two were able to peacefully coexist - at least when Yuri didn’t decide to wreak havoc as he so often did. Yuri’s mentality of “some rules are made to be broken” didn’t really seem to appeal to Flynn.

Still, despite his track record for breaking pretty much every rule there was, Yuri did know how to follow rules when he really wanted to. Oftentimes he would surprise Flynn by behaving himself for once. He knew what to do when he had to, though it was Flynn who had shown him which times it was really important to follow the rules. Yuri had at least eased up a little on the rule breaking for Flynn’s sake.

For the first time in several months, Yuri had finally gotten some time off of his guild duties to come to Zaphias to visit with Flynn. Of course, when he climbed in the window he found that Flynn was hard at work. He usually was, so Yuri simply settled down to wait as he always did. And just like always, his patience to sit silently did not last for very long.

“Hey, Flynn,” Yuri said, breaking the silence between them.

“Hm?” Flynn hummed, still not tearing his attention away from his work.

“How long have you been working for?”

“About… ten hours I suppose,” Flynn replied, pulling the next report from the stack on his desk. “But I did break for lunch at some point.”

Yuri smirked slightly. It seemed like now would be a good time to break the “don’t distract Flynn while he’s working” rule. At this point, Flynn never really expected him to follow that particular rule, and so he didn’t even flinch when Yuri snuck up behind him and snaked his arms around Flynn’s waist.

“You can afford to take a little break to visit with an old friend can’t you?” Yuri asked, leaning over to speak in Flynn’s ear which he knew was sensitive. He was rewarded with a little shiver from Flynn.

“Your definition of ‘a little break’ isn’t really the same as mine,” Flynn pointed out, finally looking up from his work.

“But that’s okay. You’ve worked enough for today anyways,” Yuri said, chuckling. Flynn smiled slightly, unable to help it even though he knew it would only encourage Yuri.

“I still have a few things left to do though…”

“Those things will still be here when you come back,” Yuri said, gently pulling Flynn out of his chair. Flynn didn’t bother resisting, and Yuri could tell that the blond was more eager to take a break than he would probably admit. Yuri grinned at Flynn and headed off in the direction of the window. Flynn appeared confused until Yuri spoke again. “The stars are out around now, and they say the view from the roof is amazing here.”

A grin equal in size and brilliance to Yuri’s spread across Flynn’s face and he didn’t hesitate to follow Yuri as he climbed out the window and up to the roof to go stargazing. If Flynn had taught Yuri the important times to heed the rules, it was Yuri who had taught Flynn the times it was important not to.


End file.
